WAR ON DRUGS THE TOP PRIORITY, VOW CABRAMATTA POLICE

Police have declared war on Cabramatta's drug addicts, planning to use the
full weight of the law to charge and jail people who drop syringes and
users who openly inject heroin.

The new Hume regional commander, Assistant Commissioner Clive Small, said
an action plan for the area covering suburbs such as Cabramatta, Blacktown,
Fairfield and Liverpool committed police to tackling drugs as the "number
one priority" and recognised the level of community concern.

Under the plan, people who possess and supply drugs in public places or
discard needles will be charged and could be jailed if they have also been
charged with other offences or were caught drug-taking while on parole.

Previously, police often used move-on orders or issued court attendance
notices to clear drug users from suburban and commercial areas.

"It's a different approach and the message to drug users is: stay at home,"
Mr Small said.

"This is about reducing the aggregate damage being caused to the community
by drug users and putting some balance into the harm minimisation debate."

Drug users who come to Cabramatta to buy drugs and are caught shooting up
will be bailed on the condition they do not return to the area without a
legitimate reason. If they do return, bail will be refused and the users
jailed.

"The purpose is not to clog the jails with drug users but to create a
crisis in the life of the drug user. They will have to make the decision:
seek treatment and we will give you every support, or go to jail," Mr Small
said.

The action plan will merge the region's 45-member Tactical Action Group
with its anti-theft unit and officers from Operation Puccini.

Puccini, the high-profile street-policing campaign, enjoyed early success
but was later hampered by a lack of police resources and had the effect of
forcing drug users and dealers out of the central business district into
residential areas.

Mr Small said the merged unit would allow greater flexibility across the
region, would eventually have 90 officers and could be deployed quickly to
crime hotspots.

The action plan emphasises teamwork, partnerships with the community and
strong leadership, following two years of instability in the Cabramatta
command where staff staged an internal rebellion against their former boss,
Superintendent Peter Horton.

The community has increasingly criticised police for "going soft" on drugs
and a parliamentary committee is examining police staffing in the
Cabramatta command.

The Opposition spokesman on police, Mr Andrew Tink, said the action plan
made no mention of targeting drug dealers operating in Cabramatta,
Australia's heroin capital.

"The root of the problem is the dealers, you've got to roll them up as a
priority. My other concern is by merging these teams there could be less,
not more, police in Cabramatta," Mr Tink said.

The president of Cabramatta Chamber of Commerce, Mr Ross Treyvaud, said
police appeared to be treating the "symptom rather than the cause" - the
drug dealers. Yesterday, he said he called police to remove 20 dealers
openly selling outside a shop near the railway station.

Surveillance cameras costing $400,000 a year to run had so far proved
"totally ineffective in addressing drug supply issues".

Fairfield Councillor Thang Ngo said the merged police units would spread
limited police resources throughout the region, which stretches from Camden
to Mount Druitt and Cabramatta.